First, our four fantastic interns (get more serious this week and) present their research topics: One challenges discrimination in all its ugly forms; another pair considers the (soft) power of Malaysian food & culture; while the fourth fights for our Orang Asli.

Boss-man then continues the show: Wong Chen gives his views on Jho Low’s alleged pink-diamond gift to MO1’s wife, the Government’s GST flip-flop, and the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara’s (Dr. Mahathir’s?) forex scandal.

With all that gloomy news though, our office seizes every reason to celebrate, so we start with a little 30th-episode party!

Get a glimpse—literally “glimpse,” in HD video—of a workday in Parliament as the MP for Kelana Jaya. Before that, we’ve a special message from the Leader of the Opposition herself, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Hear also messages from four other MPs on what they’re up to in this parliamentary sitting. Finally, Wong Chen explains three parliamentary replies given by Government ministers.

Good morning from Parliament. Am here early at 9 am having a wonderful Kelantanese nasi dagang lauk ikan breakfast. Two things are on my radar today. First, I will be delivering my King’s speech around 2.30 pm. I will be raising issues on corruption, economic indicators and foreign investments. Second, is the Minister of Finance will be answering my question on whether there will be a GST exemption on fire fighting equipment in view of the tragic fire in USJ2 last month. This answer will be available around 5 pm today. I will keep you posted on both fronts.

14th March 2017: Nasi Kerabu

Yesterday, I delivered my King’s speech around 4 pm. Tania will post up my speech later today. We are set to have another long day. Parliament is expected to debate until 8.30 pm tonight. I will now support the debate of my colleagues. In the meantime, my staff are researching on all the bills coming up. I will be focusing on the bankruptcy bill and also the stamp duty bill. Any legal practitioners who want to advise or comment on these bills can contact nadirah.wongchen@gmail.com. We welcome all constructive and critical inputs.

One good thing so far in this sitting, is the food has improved tremendously. Yesterday, I had nasi dagang for breakfast, this morning is another Kelantanese favourite, nasi kerabu. I hardly ever go back to Kota Bharu nowdays. So it’s nice to be reminded of home every morning.

In minister question time this morning, PAS MP Ahmad Marzuk asks PM Najib to state his position on Zakir Naik. He also urged the government to take action against liberal activists who oppose Zakir Naik. The minister in the PM Department, Jamil Khir states that any public speaker has to be approved by BN government and that the government approves of Zakir Naik. The government also regards Zakir Naik as an inspiration and authority on Islam. The government also state that people from other religions attend his events and that his speeches are non divisive. The bromance of PAS and UMNO continues.

15th March 2017, 12.48 p.m.: The Yemen War and the Forbidden Word

Good morning from Parliament.

To a question on Malaysia’s involvement in the Yemen war, the Minister of Defence Hishammuddin states that our armed forces are on the Saudi-Yemen border on “humanitarian” grounds and only there to rescue Malaysians (we have 500 Malaysian students there). The Minister also says that we have a small force only and even if we want to take part in any offensive action, we are not able to.

To this bare denial, YB Mujahid (Amanah – Parit Buntar) asserts that the international press and the Saudi media have reported that Malaysia is involved in military actions. This is also confirmed by the United Nations. In addition, Mujahid added that the UN views this war as a war crime and urged Malaysia to withdraw and not be part of this crime against humanity.

In reply, Hishammuddin states that we cannot rely on reports of the international media and insists that he is being absolutely honest that Malaysia is not involved in the war.

So there you have it. The official BN government stand is whatever news the rest of the world report on are lies and whatever BN says is the absolute truth. This is also the same position for all 1MDB related reports; that the rest of the world is lying or delusional on 1MDB. There is also a direct 1MDB connection to the Yemen war. The RM2.6 billion donation issue has come full circle, ensnaring Malaysia into the Yemen war. A war where Malaysia has no geopolitical reason to be involved in. An illegal war where Muslims are killing other Muslims. A war that puts our soldiers on harm’s way, for what? Today, Parliament failed to pull Malaysia out of this unjust war crime and that will be on the conscience of the BN government forever. May God protect our soldiers in Yemen and see their safe return.

The Bayan Baru MP, YB Sim used the word “1MDB” in his speech and was reminded by the Deputy Speaker that the Speaker Pandikar Amin has ruled that we cannot use the word “1MDB” in Parliament. YB Tony Pua stood to challenge whether such a ruling exists and was ordered to sit down. How far have we fallen when words can be banned in Parliament?

Malaysia is now ruled by a kleptocrat supported by sychopants in Parliament. I circumvent this so called ruling by refering 1MDB as the “biggest kleptocracy case in the world” in my speeches. The fact that this is allowed gives us a very small glimmer of hope that many of these Najib sycophants are in fact reluctant.

Speaking of sucking up to the boss, the title of greatest supporter of Najib in Parliament has to go to the Baling MP, Azeez who in his speech today thanked the good work of the Minister of Education. He then goes one level up to greatly thank Najib for giving the cabinet post to the Minister!

15th March 2017, 9.08 p.m.: Virtual Cookies Coming Through!

Good evening, Nadirah here! Just a little update, we’ve just received answers to two of our parliamentary questions – one about waiving GST on fire safety equipment following the USJ 2 fire, the other on whether the government has conducted a socioeconomic study on the impact of GST on rural economies.

A fun tip: Take a guess before reading the answers as per the pictures below. Virtual cookies for the closest guess.

15th March 2017, 10.34 p.m.: Back Home

I am home now. It’s been a long day for me in Parliament starting at 8.30 am and ending at 8.30 pm. I just want to highlight an issue that my friend YB Darell Leiking raised in Parliament around 7 pm tonight. As he was winding down his speech on five serious Sabah related issues, he asked one last question on behalf of his daughter; what has happened to the movie “Beauty and the Beast”? To this question, YB Manivanan Gowin (who sits next to me) and I joined in to ask the same on behalf of our respective daughters. My daughter (who is 4 and the half) loved the original cartoon so much that I had to assure her for the last 2 months, that I will take her to the cinema and watch it together.

I believe the censorship of this movie is absolutely ridiculous. Here is another world news that will make Malaysia look absolutely backward. Bloomberg, The New York Times, The BBC, The Financial Times, Fortune and many other reputable international media companies have reported on this. This is yet another international public relations disaster for Malaysia.

The government can tolerate massive corruption in the form of 1MDB but feels threatened by a humorous moment in an otherwise fully heterosexual fairytale love story. The so called “gay” moment has been completely overblown. It has been reported that the controversial scene is that of a man entering into a magic wardrobe and coming out dressed as a woman (as per the original cartoon version). Dressed as a woman, he then dances with a male soldier.

Shame on the government for blowing this up out of proportion and continue to bully and pick on the LGBTQ community.

I sincerely hope this sudden, extraordinary ultra religious attitude of UMNO has nothing to do with the fact that the 355 bill is slated again for debate in 2 weeks time.

16th March 2017: Laksam

Good morning from Parliament. Yes, the food blogging continues. For breakfast I had Laksam Kelantan. I mentioned this to the caterer a few days ago and was surprised to see it served today. My fellow Kelantanese, MITI Minister Mustapa Mohamed walked in and took my recommendation and had it too.

Being in Parliament early can also result in chance meetings. I was also introduced to the visiting Somalian Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte and had a nice chat with him. He is soft spoken and is extremely tall at 6 foot 5. He knows about Malaysia and asked about Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim‘s health and wished him well. I asked about the famine situation in Somalia and he explained that they usually have 4 rainy seasons a year, but this year was completely dry. He said that some 6 million Somalians are at risk of famine. We also talked about global warming and the need for democratic institutions to ensure economic prosperity.

I gave a short talk on GST today at MPSJ. I explained the reasons why PKR is against the GST. Despite our big fight in Parliament last year, BN controls 60% of seats and pushed GST through. BN then started a nationwide campaign to promote it. So from a legislative/legal point, GST is unstoppable.

It also appears that GST is unstoppable despite a public outcry. Even Tengku Razaleigh’s last minute appeal in Parliament as the most senior BN Parliamentarian was brushed aside by BN last week. This is simply because BN needs the money to cover all the financial and fiscal lubangs, 1MDB included.

To cover all the lubangs, GST will cost on average RM700 per year per person. So if you are in a family of 5 persons, your expenses is expected to increase by RM3,500.